Tai Chi For Riders
Part One of a Series  by Carolyn Bond

Everyone, regardless of discipline, has heard "be one with your horse." But how do you really do that?

An excerpt from "The Sentinel"

In a word (or two), Tai Chi.
But isn't that a martial art?  Yes, it is.

Many of us have heard of it. We get a mental picture of a large group of old Chinese people moving real slow in a park.  What really is Tai Chi and what does it have to do with riding?

Tai Chi is an "internal energy" exercise as well as a martial art.  It is sometimes called "moving meditation" because its practitioners perform fluid, balanced movements in a state of deep relaxation. 

It originated in China and is practiced around the world for its health benefits.  Yet within this ancient Chinese system lies a whole new world of awareness and connection unique among all of the physical and mental techniques talked about today.  It is especially applicable to riding, the only Olympic sport where two living things perform as one. OK.  So show me how Tai Chi can help me with my riding problems.  Then talk to me about oneness.  Let's do it!

All of us who study riding have heard one of the following commands echoing from the center of the ring as we take our lesson:

  • "Relax!"
    (The louder they yell, the more tense we get.)

  • "Lower your weight deeper into the saddle." 
    (Aren't I already as heavy as I'm going to be?)

  • "You're sitting off to the right. Sit in the center of the saddle."
    (Then they pull you over to a position from which you feel like you will fall off to the left.)

  • "He's hanging on the left rein. Can't you feel that?  (Frankly (sigh) I thought both reins were even.)

We can hear.  We understand English.   However, intellectual understanding doesn't necessarily translate into the desired physical response.  Although our minds may receive the instructions, our bodies are not always able to interpret those directions and "make it happen."

For centuries, Tai Chi, as an exercise, has been a key for many people to unlock that mind-body connection.  How?  Let's look at each of these comments and see.

"Relax!"
How can such a little word reflect such a big problem.  Most
of us are constantly in a hurry.  Run here.  Run there.  Hurry up and get home so that we can run and work our horse.  Then we're supposed to sit up there and "relax".  Who has time?
Well, if you have five minutes and five square feet, you can do Tai Chi. If you do Tai Chi, you can relax.   The slow movements of Tai Chi are performed while breathing deeply and rhythmically.  Your mind is focused on the breathing and movement, so it is temporarily relieved of the cares of the day.  The body lets go of some of its tension as it moves through a choreographed pattern of movement.  At the end of even
the most basic pattern, you can feel significantly more "centered".  In just a few minutes, you are relaxed.

"Lower your weight deeper into the saddle."
We'd like to sit closer to our horse, but somehow trying to do so seems to push us more up than down. A Tai Chi Master might tell you, "think about breathing a 'sigh of relief'". You've been worried all day about whether or not the farrier was going
to get out to put that missing shoe back on.  You've got a lesson tonight that you don't want to miss.  You get to the barn, rush to the stall and check your horse's feet.  Whew!  He was here!  What did your body just do?  You let out a big breath.   When you did, your whole body "sank" towards the ground.
Guess what?  You just lowered your weight. Tai Chi will teach you to put your weight where you want it at will.

Like anything else, it takes practice.  But just like your "sigh of
relief", a significant part of lowering your weight is learning and
practicing the deep breathing that is an integral part of Tai Chi.

"Your weight is off to the right.   Sit in the center of the saddle."
Just as our horses have a dominant side, so do we.  We know this when we pick up a pen.  We use our dominant hand.  We don't always know this when we sit in the saddle.  But we do know that various aspects of our riding go better to one side than   to the other.  There can be a lot of reasons for this, but one of them is that our weight isn't evenly distributed in our seat.  It truly isn't in the center of the saddle even when we think it is because we haven't practiced being in balance.
If all of our lives we lean to the right, leaning to the right feels
balanced to us, because that's how we are accustomed to carrying our body.  (Your horse knows all about this!)  Now that we have that habit, a balanced weight distribution will feel like leaning to the left, which it is not.  A good Tai Chi instructor can help you find that balance.

The first things you'll learn about Tai Chi are "Tai Chi Standing" and "Tai Chi Walking".  Tai Chi Standing teaches you to stand with head as if suspended, align shoulders and hips (sound familiar?) and center your weight evenly over both feet. Tai Chi Walking is how you move and shift your weight while doing your Tai Chi form or pattern.  When you first
learn Tai Chi Walking, you will find it will be easier to one side than to the other.   This awareness is the first step to understanding where your body's weight really is and to finding balance.

Through the practice of Tai Chi, you'll become more balanced physically, as well as mentally and emotionally.  Sitting in the center of the saddle will follow naturally.

"He's hanging on the left rein.   Can't you feel that?"
We think of "feel" as a purely physical, tactile issue. Fingertips touch the stove, and we feel heat.  But "feel" in the saddle has more to do with breathing and focus than nerve endings.
What?  Trust me, I have lived this.  It's true.  Deep abdominal
breathing is fundamental to the practice of Tai Chi and one of the first things introduced.  Deep breathing settles you more deeply into the saddle.  It clears your mind so that it can receive information from your body.  It helps relax your body so that you can notice what your horse is up to. Breathing is also the foundation of focus. And through breathing and  focus, we can connect with our horses on a level that will truly allow us to "be one" with our horses. Increase our sympathy. Increase their cooperation. Increase mutual understanding.

Go beyond partnership, beyond relationship, to oneness.
It can be done.  There are specific exercises that will point the way.

Watch for Part Two of our series for a more in depth discussion of: Breathing, Focus and Movement.
Watch for Part Three of our series, where we will introduce concepts of Internal Energy, the level on which you can truly begin to "be one" with your horse.

Carolyn Bond has been a horsewoman for 30 years and has studied Tai Chi with SiFu Steve Kleppe for 2-1/2 years. She has competed both in dressage and at the Great Lakes Regional Kung Fu Championships. SiFu Kleppe has been a martial artist for 30 year and is assisting in the development of the Tai Chi for Riders program which will be offered through Shao Lin Boxing Methods in Waukesha, WI. For more information, call 414/308-3168.